Suchergebnisse

This study provides benchmarking analysis of patent and trademark applications in the European Union. The objectives of benchmarking are (1) to determine what and where improvements are called for, (2) to analyze how other nations achieve their high performance levels, and (3) to use this information to improve performance in favor of the EU Internal Market. The benchmarking study provides benchmarking results about (1) patent applications of residents and nonresidents, (2) trademark applications of residents and nonresidents, (3) total patent applications, and (4) total trademark applications. The study also provides benchmarking analysesabout patent and trademark application in relation to population and gross domestic product. The results of benchmarking cover the time period 1960–2013. The study provides some comparative statistical analyses and discusses whether there has been convergence in patent and trademark activity in the European Union. The study identifies top 10 champions in the differentcategories of patent and trademark activity. Key results will be reported in the forms of descriptive statistics, Pareto charts, and key statistical indicators. Some special indicators of innovation activity will be reported. The study provides some policy relevant results for the EU Internal Market development.

The purpose of research article is to present an analysis of European immigration policy in 1998-2011. The analyses and research tasks include: (1) immigration to the Nordic countries, (2) immigration to Baltic countries, (3) immigration to Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain and Italy, (4) immigration to Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Slovenia and Slovakia and (5) immigration to Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and (6) immigration to Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus. The research results include benchmarking trend analyses of immigration flows of analyzed countries for years 1998-2011. Thus, 14 years period of immigration flows in European continent is analyzed. Key results of the study inform us about various changes of immigration policy in the European Union, towards the "Fortress Europe" policy.The study includes some statistical comparative analyses and also logarithmic trend analyses (reported in Appendix 1). If we want to have evidence-based immigration policy in the European Union, these kinds of empirical trend analyses may help us to make informed decisions. These results indicate that in many European countries immigration policy has changed in a considerable way towards "Fortress Europe model" - especially during financial crisis. Biggest changes can be observed in Poland, in Iceland, in the Netherlands, in Greece, Spain, in Austria and in Lichtenstein. One remarkable change is that the United Kingdom and Germany have changed their rank positions as major immigration countries of the European Union in 1998-2011.Thus, in 2011 six major European countries taking immigrants to their county were the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and Poland. In 1998 these six largest immigration flow countries were Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Greece, Italy and the Netherlands. Also other remarkable changes are reported in this empirical immigration study. However very latest publication of Eurostat (2014b) in May 2014 reveals that ...

Finland's St. Michel Eco-Province program is examined as a promotion of a decentralized sustainable regional policy model; since 1980, it has influenced Europe & Scandinavia through the successful promotion of projects for sustainable ways of living, responsible land use, & implementation of environmental technology. The St. Michel Environmental Education Programme is offered as a local, reflective ecological modernization model, as it has developed ecological agriculture, sustainable forest management, environmental technology, industrial production technology, sustainable tourism, renewable energy systems, social/cultural service production, small & family business management, & technology policies in industries. 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

AbstractThis article presents a hybrid foresight study using the Delphi methodology. The study is part of a strategic research project of the Finnish state named "Foresight in Environmental Reference Laboratory Operations." The main starting point for this study was the Policy Delphi method, which was supplemented with other Delphi variants and decision support methods. In this hybrid foresight application, Delphi methodology was combined with decision-making and strategic planning tools, namely (1) SWOT analysis, (2) Boston Consulting Group Matrix, (3) research infrastructure (RI) analysis, (4) platform analysis, and (5) integrative foresight workshop. This article draws strongly on the hybrid foresight methodology perspective of foresight tool orchestration. The authors argue that the Delphi methodology gains reliability and appeal with hybrid methodological orchestration. The function of reference laboratories includes services for the verification and maintenance of the quality and validity of environmental measurements, such as the maintenance of reference measurement equipment, expertise, and training, and the organization of national reference measurements as well as participation in international reference measurements, method development, and standardization. The study shows the importance of environmental reference laboratories addressing the following challenges by 2030: (1) new measurement targets, such as the diffusion of nanomaterials, microplastics, and drugs in both nature and the food chain and the environmental impact of recycled materials and indoor air issues; (2) automation of measurement activities and transition to technologically advanced measurement systems; (3) citizens' opportunities to participate in the production of information about their environment through new technologies; (4) preparing for the incorporation and internationalization of laboratory operations; and (5) the concentration of measurement service business.

This study reports major changes in public opinion in the European Union. First part of the study includes (1) citizens´ assessments of the most important issues facing the EU at the moment, (2) The second part of study report changes in (1) national economic situation evaluations, (2) European economic situation evaluations, (3) European economic crisis recovery evaluations (the impact on the crisis on jobs), (4) evaluations of Euro-optimism vs. pessimism, (5) evaluations about the support for the Euro area and (6) evaluations support for the euro. All these changes of the Standard Eurobarometer results are mirrored in relation to long-run GDP changes of the European Union (EU-28). Third part of the study analyses the four key elements of European mind-sets. In general decision theory and general systems theory, a mind-set is a set of assumptions, beliefs, methods, or notations held by one or more people or groups of people. In the field of future studies the concept and the analysis of mind-set have been discussed in many global studies. From this perspective it is interesting to elaborate the European mind-set and its status. The study is based on the very latest "Future of Europe" datasets (September 2017). From these three perspectives this study is relevant for European integration studies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.12.21870

International audience ; This article tests whether the field of foresight and futures studies shows significant variable selection biases in the modelling of the future in general and the impact of function systems in particular. We performed a word frequency analysis to measure the relative importance of the political system, the economy, science, art, religion, law, sport, health, education, and the mass media to three pertinent journals in the field of futures studies and foresight. The results show that Futures, Long Range Planning, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change have different and changing preferences for the above function systems, an information which authors may find helpful in supporting decisions on where to submit. Our results also show that all journals feature a highly significant bias to the triple helix systems – the political system, the economy, and science. While the latter bias may be adequate to scientific journals, the dominant focus on the political system and the economy as well as the corresponding neglect of the other systems points at implicit presumptions about the importance of the individual systems that may not be in line with their importance to the larger society. Highlights: This article • Shows that present visions of futures are predominantly visions of political economies, and how to change this. • Suggests that solutions to future political and economic key problems might also be in the so-far neglected further function systems. • Proposes a new systematic set of key variables for consideration and inclusion in models and simulations of futures.